TheState.com: Business
News, sports and entertainment from TheState.com

• Investment plan principals jailed for contempt
  The principals of 3 Hebrew Boys, the Columbia investment plan under investigation by state and federal authorities, have been placed in federal custody.A federal judge ruled Thursday that Joseph Brunson, Tim McQueen and Tony Pough were in civil contempt for not turning over requested financial documents to the court-appointed receiver.The three will remain in jail until they hand over the records, the U.S. Attorney’s office said, They have not been charged with a federal crime.The receiver was put in charge of assets belonging to the 3 Hebrew Boys, and its investment arm Capital Consortium Group, after state and federal investigators alleged the group failed to invest an estimated $79 million collected from up to 8,000 people in 23 states.Based on a plan to invest in foreign currency, investigators say the 3 Hebrew Boys guaranteed returns worth nearly $1 billion. But in justifying a raid of 3 Hebrew Boys’ offices in September, the FBI alleges less than $20,000 was ever invested in foreign currency.
• Coastal homeowners might get a break
  HILTON HEAD ISLAND — The price of coastal homeowners’ insurance could drop next year, thanks to the quiet 2007 hurricane season, according to industry experts.The lack of big storms has reduced the cost of reinsurance, which is basically insurance for insurance companies. That reduction, say experts, could eventually trickle down to homeowners.In fact, some excess and surplus insurance companies — those whose rates are not regulated by the state — have already reduced premiums in the past two months for local homeowners, said Bill Fuge, property and casualty manager of Kinghorn Insurance Services’ Hilton Head Island office.Those reductions have been as large as 15 percent.“Making it through this hurricane season with no hurricanes was a real blessing, and that makes a lot of difference when it comes to the pricing of reinsurance and the catastrophe models,” said Allison Dean Love, executive director of the S.C. Insurance News Service, an industry-sponsored organization that provides data on insurance issues.
• Freeze rates to save homes?
  WASHINGTON — The Bush administration and major financial institutions are close to agreeing on a plan that would temporarily freeze interest rates on certain troubled subprime home loans, according to people familiar with the negotiations.An accord could reassure investors and strapped homeowners, both of whom are anxious as interest rates on more than 2 million adjustable mortgages are scheduled to jump over the next two years. It could also give a boost to the Bush administration, which is facing criticism for inaction amid the recent housing turmoil.The talks come amid hints from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke of another cut in a key interest rate to keep the economy from sliding into a recession.The plan is being negotiated between regulators including the Treasury Department and a coalition of mortgage-related companies including Citigroup, Wells Fargo & Co., Washington Mutual and Countrywide Financial.People familiar with the talks say the individual members have agreed to follow any agreement reached by the coalition, which is called the Hope Now Alliance.
• FedEx raising its ground shipping rates
  FedEx said Friday it will increase its ground shipping rates by an average of 4.9 percent starting in January.FedEx announced last month that it planned to raise its air shipping rates by the same amount.The actual price increase for FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery service will be an average of 6.9 percent, but it is offset by a 2 percent reduction in the company’s fuel surcharge.The company recently reduced its quarterly and yearly earnings outlook amid concerns over higher fuel costs and slumping market for shipping.
• Talking Shop | Good advice and service make Mae's shop popular
  A longtime store owner’s sage advice and buying tips make Lexington a destination for old-fashioned service this holiday season.Mae Buzhardt, 77, has customers from as far away as Pawleys Island stopping in at her Mae’s shop, a women’s apparel and accessories store on Lexington’s Main Street since 1975. They come for her retail wisdom, “pretty clothes” and her simply knowing their style.“She just knows what I like, and she finds what I need,” said 65-year-old Sue Hagood, who has shopped at Mae’s since Buzhardt opened her first store in Batesburg in 1963.Mae’s inventory — reminiscent of a small department store — has everything from Spanx body shapers to jeans to Sunday dresses.At her store recently, “Mrs. Mae,” as she is called by her customers, was busy helping a woman pick out a teal blue cardigan.
• The gift of power is for sale in S.C.
  South Carolina Electric & Gas is selling the present that keeps on warming this holiday season — utility bill gift certificates.Anyone having trouble deciding what to get that hard-to-shop-for friend or relative can consider SCE&G gift certificates, provided the recipient is already a customer of the utility.SCE&G has sold a handful of gift certificates, worth $25 to $150, since their January launch.This is the first year stockings in the SCE&G service area — which includes most of the Midlands and much of the coast — can be stuffed with gift certificates just before new rates hit.A proposed hike in the base rate for electricity, pending state approval, would increase the average residential electric bill by $5.44 per month, raising a typical bill to $106.54.Along with SCE&G, the largest subsidiary of Columbia-based SCANA Corp., PSNC Energy — serving North Carolina — is also selling gift certificates.
• Prices falling for high-tech gifts
  ORLANDO, Fla. — This year’s most-sought-after holiday electronics are items that cost less and that many people already own.That includes high-definition TVs, laptop computers, MP3 players and GPS navigators — gadgets that have gone from being pricey luxuries to must-haves in the past few years as prices fell and more people started using them.Unlike last year, when the Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii were the must-have, wait-in-line-for-hours electronics, this holiday shopping season will be dominated by big-ticket electronics with shorter production cycles that are just coming into range for some consumers and becoming repeat purchases for others.That means shoppers who jumped on the HDTV bandwagon early are now going back to get one for another room in the house.“I paid $2,000 for my (42-inch) LCD (a few) years ago, and now that TV is pretty much considered junk,” said Matt Orosz, 24, as he browsed the HDTVs at an Orlando Circuit City recently.
• White House: 'Difficulties' loom in '08
  WASHINGTON — The deteriorating housing market forced the White House to lower its projection for economic growth next year and raise its forecast for unemployment. Inflation was expected to moderate.The new forecast came as the Commerce Department reported Thursday that the economy barreled ahead in the summer at a 4.9 percent growth rate, the strongest showing in four years. That impressive performance, however, wasn’t expected to last through the current quarter, given the strains of the housing slump and credit crunch — problems likely to weigh on individuals and businesses alike.Under the administration’s new forecast, the gross domestic product, or GDP, will grow by 2.7 percent next year. Its old projection called for a stronger, 3.1 percent increase.“The housing market decline has been more significant than we expected,” said Edward Lazear, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.The more pronounced housing slump — along with the expectation that problems will persist into next year — was a big factor in the administration’s downgrade of its economic growth forecast for 2008.
• Daily Report | Winners, losers and the Top 10
  WinnerE-TRADE FINANCIALGETTING CASH INFUSIONE-Trade Financial Corp., which flirted with collapse amid the growing mortgage crisis, said Thursday it is getting a $2.55 billion cash infusion from Citadel Investment Group in a bid to revive the battered discount brokerage. E-Trade shares fell 46 cents to $4.82.LoserSEARS STOCK DROPSAFTER DISMAL QUARTER
• Market recalls | Lexus cars have defect in fuel pipes
  Toyota will recall about a quarter of a million vehicles worldwide, including 34,400 Lexus cars in the United States, due to potential cracks in the fuel pip